A village in Perthshire, Scotland.
"There's the castle, the distillery and the moorland, that's about it"
— a local, during my visit
It was the only dry day during a winding road trip up to the Isle of Skye many years ago. We'd driven from Kelso in the rolling Scottish Borders countryside, through Edinburgh, stopped in Dunkeld to visit Dougie Maclean's pub and camped in a field near Killiecrankie (yes, that really is a place!) Finally we hit Blair Atholl and looked for somewhere to get breakfast. It's not a pretty village, but it's surrounded by beauty, truly. The hills , woodland and moorlands are a delight to look at and hike through, without question. But we were on a mission, and after a cursory visit to the famous Blair Atholl Castle and the distillery, we passed through too hastily. But the place had a particular charm that is unique to Scotland, and that made it certain that I remembered it.
Despite appearances, it's a young village, dating back to the early nineteenth century. Until then it was pretty much a woollen mill and a few scattered shepherd's huts. The name is from Gaelic Blar Ath Fhoda, "The Plain of the New Ireland", apt given the lush green landscape. It's pretty much a few hotels catering to the tourist trade, the distillery and castle being outside the village itself. Aside from the classic Country Life Museum in the old schoolhouse (interesting place, with a wonderful, if expensive gift shop) and the Bothy Bar there's little to actually see, but wandering around the solid stone houses and buildings did us the power of good. It helped that it was the only day on the trip it didn't rain. After a visit to the distillery and lunch in the bar, we made a quick stop in at the castle and headed out.
Blair Castle
The castle dates back to the middle of the 13th century, and is primarily known for being the last castle to be besieged (in 1746). Not much remains of the original structure as it's been rebuilt and extended extensively over the years. Time, aided by war and fire have taken their toll, the last time being a fire in the clock tower in 2011. There is, of course, a museum containing what we were told were some important pieces of military history, and the gardens were quite spectacular. In particular the kitchen garden was memorable to me because one of the locals was tending it, and we talked about what was grown there. At the time the produce was being used to supplement the diet of the Atholl Highlanders (the only legal private army remaining in Europe). The castle really does deserve a well-researched writeup, and I will do it justice soon.
The place did have an effect on me even though there's nothing especially remarkable there. I think it was the solidity of the architechture, hewn from stone and built to last a lifetime. It's a place I could happily hermit.
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